Contact bridge for intercept blocks



l i l 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Seleaior In iermedz'a z'e DisireZuii/zg Frame Filed Aug. 17, 1951 NI. A. CONNELL, JR., ET AL CONTACT BRIDGE FOR INTERCEPT BLOCKS Connector Calling Subscriber [JVVZNTO/BS' MELVIN A. CONNELL JP.

. ATTOFAEY Hath Dz'sirz'buiz'ng Frame STEWART KELLEY flLLEN CIANFZELZ? TLC Called Saba-craze! June 13, 1933. M. A. CONNELL, JR, ET AL 1,913,871

CONTACT BRIDGE FOR INTERCEPT' BLOCKS Filed Aug. 17, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 17V VENTORS m w w y LEE 5L1 Mn m? Amm mmw m 1 W Patented June 13, 1933' 1913 371 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MELVIN A. CONNELL, an, STEWART KELLEY, AND ALLEN cAnFiELn, or SAG-INAW,

MICHIGAN CONTACT BRIDGE FOB- INTER-CEPT B LOCKS Application filed August 17, 1931. Serial No. 557,588.

This invention relates to known central stacalled subscribers telephone has been distion wiring equipment for dial telephones Connected. and pertains more particularly to auxiliary 7 Ne will first describe the pertinent feameans for facilitating the operation of the tures of operation of a known dial telephone intercept block on the intermediate distribut system to which our invention is adapted to 5 ing frame. be applied.

The primary object of our invention is to The intercept block is a part ofthe interprovide a simple and effective clip appliance mediate distributing frame equipment. It which the attendant can quickly apply to the usually consists of a base plate f insulatlo intercept block and thereby intercept a teleing material, called the terminal strip, and a 50 phone that is ordered to be discontinued and group of about one hundred twenty flat terestablish communication between any party minal lugs 2 that are permanently fixed to the who calls such telephone and the central staterminal strip 1 and project'through it equaltion intercept operator. 1y on opposite sides. A typical intercept Heretofore it has been necessary for the block, Figs. 2,: 4, 5, has its lugs arranged inattendants to make such change-overs by solparallel rows that'extend from the frontedge dering and unsoldering the ends of at least ofthe strip toward its back edge, there bethree short jump wires to the appropriate ing six lugs to each row, corresponding to six lugs or terminals on the intercept blocks. one telephone number. The individual lugs Our invention eliminates this labor and ex- I have their flat faces in the plane of the row. 7 pense and saves time. 1 Each row comprises two sets of lugs, those of For the purpose of leading up to a correct the first set connected to the line, those of comprehension of the problem that has been the other set connected to the intercept opsolved by the present invention, reference erator. As many rows of lugs as desired,

may be had to the accompanying drawings. usually twenty, may be mounted side by side Fig. 1 diagrammatically shows the lines on the terminal strip. Of thesix lugs in each and connections of a dial telephone system to row the lower ends of the first set, (1,6, 0, are which our improvement is adapted to be connected respectively tothree wires 3, 4, 5

'ap lied leading to the connector terminal shown in Fig. 2 is an enlarged isometric view of the Fig. 1, and theirupper ends are soldered to 50 intercept block showing our improvement three wires 7 8, 9 leading to the line finder applied to the terminal lugs. block 10. Each subscribers telephone is con- Fig.'3 is a side view of one of the conducnected by two wires 11, 12 to the main d stive elements of the clip. tributing frame and thence by a two-wire partly broken away, some of the connecting lugs just described. The remaining set of wires having been detached from the termilugs 03, e, of each row are connected to setnal lugs to permit the clip to be applied of trunk lines 14, 15, 16 that lead to the intercept flash signal 17 and to the telephone 18 Fig. 5 is a front View of the same, broken of the central station intercept operator. y in p During the ordinary operation of the dial Fig. '6 shows a modified form of clip applitelephone system the last mentioned set of ance. p lugs (Z, 6, f are not connected to thesubscrlb- As is known, the function of the intercept ers lines and consequently the intercept opblock on the intermediate distributing frame erator performs no function. When a sub- 96 is to intercept all calls that may be'directed scribers telephone is to bedisconnected the to a telephone that has been discontinued or two lines 11, 12 leading from the subscribers temporarily disconnected and to deliver them telephone to the main distributing frame are to the ear of an intercept operator who theredisconnected, as shown in Fig. 1, and the 0 upon explains to the calling partythat the three wires'leading from the upper ends of 100 Fig; 4 is a side View of an intercept block, cable 13 to two lugs 11', c, of the first set of 35 the first set of lugs a, b, c to the line finder block 10 are disconnected by unsoldering them from the lugs. In their stead the ends of three short jump wires 19, 20, 21 must be soldered to the upper ends of the first set of lugs a, b, 0 and the other ends of the jump wires must be soldered respectively to the lastmentioned set of lugs (Z, c, f communicating with the intercept operators tele phone 18. Thereafter, all calls directed to the disconnected subscribers telephone are shunted automatically to the intercept operator who informs the calling party that the number he seeks has been disconnected. All unused numbers, including those held in reserve for future growth of the system, are jump wired in that way on the intercept block of the intermediate distributing frame so that any call erroneously directed to a number for which there is no subscriber is likewise shunted automatically to the intercept operator.

hen a telephone heretofore disconnected is ordered into service again its three jump wires 19, 20, 21 must be unsoldered from the six lugs a-f comprising the appropriate row on the intercept block of the intermediate distributing frame in order to eliminate the intercept operator from the sub scribers circuit. Then the upper ends of the first set of lugs a, b, c in the row must be resoldered to the three wires 7, 8, 9 that lead to the line finder block, and finally the two previously disconnected wires 11, 12 leading to the main distributing frame are resoldered so that out-going calls can be transmitted from the newly connected telephone.

The stated object of our invention is to provide a simple inexpensive means that can be used to easily and quickly shunt a disconnected subscribers telephone at the intermediate distributing frame block to the intercept operator, dispensing with the three jump wires and avoiding the cost of labor and material heretofore necessitated by soldering and unsoldering the six wire connections of the lugs of a row.

lVe accomplish this result by providing a conduit bar 22, preferably built up of three superimposed fiat strips or laminae 23, 24:, 25 of conductive sheet metal and four laminae 26, 27, 28, 29 of non-conductive sheet material. preferably fibre, all the laminae being bolted, riveted or molded together in such manner that the conductive strips 23, 24, 25 are electrically insulated from each other. Two cont-act elements in the form of spring clips, as 250 and 256, are formed on each conductive strip, as 25. The clips of one strip are arranged so as to register with the first and fourth lugs a, (Z of the intercept block on the intermediate distributing frame and the clips of the other two conductive elements are positioned to register with the sec- 0nd and fifth and third and sixth lugs respectively. Each clip is preferably formed so as to yieldingly contact with the corresponding lug, and all six clips are arranged on the laminated conduit bar 22 so they will be applied simultaneously to all six lugs of av row when the attendant slips the bar into the way 30 defined by two rows of lugs.

Preferably the clips are shaped so as to project upwardly from the upper edge of the bar and are folded downwardly upon themselves so as to present inverted hook-shaped springs whose lower free ends 25a, 2571' are yieldingly opposed to an insulated face 26 of the bar. \Vhen the bar is slipped in between two rows of lugs and its six spring hooks embrace the upper ends of the six lugs comprising one of the rows, the attendant merely pushes the bar downward and thus seats it on the insulated terminal strip 1.

The hooks slide downward on the lugs and establish. adequate electrical communication between the opposite sets of lugs in alternating pairs (4, (7 c-c, f, (t and 7' being the outer lugs of each set and c and (l the inner lugs. 'lhereatter all calls directed through that row of lugs will be transferred auto matically to the receiver of the intercept operator. Thus the three jump wiresare renderei'lv unnecessary and no soldering and resoldering of quired.

In Fig. 1 at the left of the intermediate distributing frame is shown diagrammatically a bar 22 of our invention. in order to indicate its operative relationship to the lugs a, b, 0, (Z, c. 7 when the bar 22 is used instead of the ordinarysoldered jump wires 19, 20, 21.

A modified form of our clip appliance is illustrated in Fig. 6, the conduit bar compris ing a single strip of insulated material 31 formed with three longitudinally disposed slots to receive three fiat strips of conductive material 32, 33 and 3 1. Each strip is insulated from the others and provided with two outwardly and upwardly curved spring prongs 35. iVhen this conduit bar is pushed down between two rows of terminal lugs the free ends of the curved spring prongs 35 contact resiliently with the flat faces of six terminals of a row, the back face of the insulated strip 31 bearing against the opposing row of terminal lugs.

A supply of clips is kept at hand, and the attendant applies them to the intercept blockor removes them according to his orders for connecting or disconnecting service telephones.

All incoming calls for a discontinued telephone number or for a number that has not yet been put into service will automatically go to the intercept operator so long as the appropriate row of lugs is engaged by a clip. hen a, clip is not occupying a row of lugs the intercept operator is kept from automatic ump wire connections is rccommunication with the subscribers line corresponding to that row.

We have referred to the visible signal 17 and the audible signal or telephone 18 as instruments that are located at the station of the intercept operator, but in lieu of those signals a loud speaker or other annunciating or alarm device may be employed in case it is desired to sound an emergency alarm or notify attendants at the central station that the discontinued subscribers number has been called. F or instance, it would be possible with this device for the proper authority to temporarily out out a subscribers tele phone and if a call for that number is thereafter received the alarm is sounded in the telephone exchange or in the office of a proper oflicial. The ability of this apparatus to be applied to a terminal block so as to almost instantly cut out a telephone and thereafter produce a signal if the number is called is one of its advantageous features.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a dial telephone system having an in tercept block including terminal intercept lugs and line lugs arranged in a plurality of parallel rows, each row having two sets of three lugs each connected respectively to the intercept operator and tothe line, means for establishing electrical communication between two sets in a row comprising, a contercept operator and to the line, means for establishing electrical communication be'- tween the two sets of a row, comprising, a

conduit bar adapted to be removably insert- 4. In a dial telephone system having an intercept block including terminal lugs arranged in rows, each row having two sets of lugs connected respectively to the intercept operator and to the line, means for establishing electrical communication between two sets in a row comprising, a member adapted to be removably inserted between two rows of lugs, said member including a plurality of superimposed conductive strips insulated from each other, two exposed contact elements formed on each strip and spaced apart, said elements of each strip being so disposed as to engage the flat face of a lug of each set.

In testimony whereof, we aflix our signatures.

MELVIN A. CONNELL, JR. STEWART KELLEY. ALLEN CANFIELD.

duit bar adapted to be removably inserted 1 between two rows of lugs, said bar including three strips of conductive material separated by thin layers of non conductive material, two contact elements formed on each strip and projecting laterally away from the bar, said elements of each strip arranged to engage respectively an intercept lug and a line lug in such manner that each lug of a set is electrically connected to the appropriate lug of the other set in the same row.

2. In a dial telephone system having an intercept block including terminal lugs arranged in a plurality of rows, each row comprising two sets of lugs connected respectively to the intercept operator and to the line, means for establishing electrical communication between said two sets of any desired row, comprising a conduit bar adapted to be removably inserted between two rows of lugs, said bar including a plurality of superimposed conductive strips insulated from each other, two contact elements formed at the marginal edge of each conductive strip, spaced apart and shaped to present spring clips, said contact elements of each strip being disposed so that each yieldingly engages an appropriate lug of each set.

3. In a dial telephone system having an intercept block including terminal lugs ar ranged in rows, each row comprising two sets of lugs connected respectively to the in- 

